Blog - Fabbaloohttp://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/Sun, 02 Aug 2015 12:41:46 +0000en-USSite-Server v6.0.0-5012-5012 (http://www.squarespace.com)A Printathalon To Take Place in Albany; Why Not One In Your Town, Too?eventGeneral FabbSun, 02 Aug 2015 16:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/26/a-printathalon-to-take-place-in-albany-why-not-one-in-your-town-too509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b54b15e4b06ccaa6c8467aIn the city of Albany, NY, there will be something called a “Printathalon”
taking place soon. But we think this is something that should happen
everywhere.

In the city of Albany, NY, there will be something called a “Printathalon” taking place soon. But we think this is something that should happen everywhere.

The “Capital District Printathalon 2015” will take place on September 19 & 20 at a hotel in Albany NY. Organized by 3D print enthusiast Colton Robtoy, the event hopes to do two things:

Show actual 3D printing technology to the public;

Provide a means of competition for local 3D enthusiasts

The event will work much like one of those cooking challenge TV shows: contestants will find out the category for the design and print challenge only at the beginning of the event. They’ll have 24 hours to design and successfully 3D print their entry, which will then be judged against other entries.

The event charges USD$10 to enter, unless you’re under 18 years of age, in which case there is NO charge for participating.

Now let’s be clear: this is a small event, taking place in a small city. But this could be so much more.

Every city, large or small, has people that do not yet understand 3D printing.

Every city, large or small, has people that could benefit from using 3D printing.

They just don’t know how to start.

A Printathalon is a very easy way to get people involved in the technology, particularly young people. This is the kind of event that will be much larger the second time around, as the first year’s event will inspire others to get into 3D printing.

If you’re in Albany, definitely attend the Printathalon, details at the link below.

If you’re not in Albany, as most readers may be, START A PRINTATHALON!

]]>netfabb Version 6 Released With Incredible New FeaturessoftwareGeneral FabbSat, 01 Aug 2015 16:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/30/netfabb-version-6-released-with-incredible-new-features509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55ba485fe4b0a906a792eac3Popular 3D model utility software netfabb has released version six, which
includes several incredibly useful new features for manufacturing.

Popular 3D model utility software netfabb has released version six, which includes several incredibly useful new features for manufacturing.

netfabb provides a variety of utility functions to assist those performing 3D print workflow in manufacturing and prototyping environments. The idea is to increase the probability of 3D printing success by making improvements and repairs to a 3D model before it hits the printer.

They’ve provided a terribly easy way to apply labels to a collection of parts. Here we see the results of applying patient’s names to a set of jaw prints.

They’ve also provided a much more flexible way of arranging a plane of parts on a print surface. You can specify, for example, the minimum distance between parts and even rotate them in a pattern. Here we see how we can tetris in parts where you cannot in other tools because the objects’ boundary box would be violated. The resulting print configuration is described in detail in a print report that can be used for tracking customer print jobs.

They’ve now introduced a way to apply textures to 3D models. You are able to use both an “assisted” or “manual” methods of applying a texture to a surface. The assisted version looks very powerful.

But even better, you can use the applied texture to alter the 3D model! Here we see a golf ball texture created almost instantly by requesting netfabb v6.0 to extrude the black spots on the texture inward slightly. This feature can permit all sorts of interesting possibilities to modify object surfaces, and I’m sure we’ll see some innovative practices develop with it.

The new version of netfabb also now supports the new 3MF file format, recently launched by the 3MF Consortium. This is not surprising, as netfabb is a member of the 3MF consortium.

There are other improvements, too. For full details, check them out at the link below.

A new startup hopes to capitalize on the custom-footwear market by 3D printing shoes that precisely fit the wearer.

Footprint Footwear has apparently implemented one of the classic hypothetical businesses for 3D printing: custom fit footwear. They explain the process:

Footprint is a unique process that generates point-specific support structures through algorithmic pattern generation. Through case-specific advisements from certified podiatrists and pedorthists we analyze individual foot structure and gait pattern to create unique footwear solutions that are built exactly to your specifications.

There are huge advantages to this approach, primarily because everyone has different feet. In fact, your left is likely not the same as your right! The Footprint Footwear system will account for all these measurable difference and produce a unique shoe for you.

Orthotics, the science of making shoes fit properly, is a very well-known process. Here we see a company taking those principles and implementing them in software, combined with a 3D printing process to produce correct footwear.

The output in this case is a shoe made from 3D printed and non-3D printed components. A knit upper is conventionally made, while the midsole and support are custom 3D printed.

While this is conceptually a wonderful idea, we have two key questions.

First, the production of these midsoles is said to use three different approaches: Ninjaflex plastic extrusion on inexpensive desktop 3D printers for prototyping, which makes sense; Stratasys Connex TangoPlus flexible digital material for testing; and finally, “production intent” using SLS nylon 3D printing on a 3D Systems unit. We’re pretty certain production units could not be made with NinjaFlex or TangoPlus, as those materials would quickly wear out. But it seems they have not yet made a nylon version?

Secondly, how, exactly, does one obtain the personal data to create the customized 3D model? Is this done using a 3D scanner? Some type of specialized “step on and measure” device? Where is it? Do clients have to travel to a special lab to be measured? Where might this lab be? Is there one in my area? Can I do the measurements at home using an app or paper cutout mechanism?

The answer to the second question is critical. If it can only be done using specialized equipment at central locations, then it will be much harder for Footprint Footwear to grow their business, as they have to set up physical locations in many cities, provide staff for them, etc.

But if they can figure out a way around that issue, they may have a big business here.

]]>Copyright Controversy Erupts Over Site’s Use of 3D ModelserviceGeneral FabbFri, 31 Jul 2015 17:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/26/copyright-controversy-erupts-over-sites-use-of-3d-model509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b54c7be4b0bb795dd9600dRecently we wrote of a newly encountered 3D model repository, dayin.la,
which holds plenty of interesting 3D content, but now it seems the site has
used some models without permission.

The site in question, dayin.la, is a Chinese service offering hundreds of 3D models for download in a manner very similar to Thingiverse. It’s in Chinese, so few non-Chinese users might have encountered it, but we found it and through the magical use of Google Translate, were able to succesfully navigate through to downloading 3D models.

We did not review the entire collection, as the site contains perhaps thousands of 3D models. But one Fabbaloo reader, Jim Rodda (aka Zheng3), went through the site and found that at least one of his 3D models was on the site and available for free download.

We asked Rodda (a speaker of Chinese) to describe what happened after finding the site via Fabbaloo’s post:

I found day in (translates to “printer,” BTW) through Fabbaloo’s tweet. I decided to multiplex practicing Chinese and searching for my models by entering 恐龙 (dinosaur) into the search field. I expected to find Robber Rex, because he’s more popular, but lo!

There was Milton. It’s a shame it had to be Milton, because as dinosaurs go he’s pretty anxious and I’m concerned for how this will affect his self-esteem. (Milton’s anxiety issues are well-documented here.

On Zheng3’s site, the model in question, “Milton”, shown at top, is marked with this license:

Unless otherwise specified, all models from the Forge are distributed under the Creative Commons Share-Alike license, so you’re free to share and remix them as long as you credit Zheng3.com. You can also send a donation to jim@zheng3.com to help keep The Forge stocked with anthracite and ale. Thanks.

It’s otherwise fully downloadable at no cost. This license makes it easy for personal use of a 3D model, but requires appropriate attribution if you’re redistributing it in some way. The same way dayin.la seems to be doing.

But did dayin.la provide such attribution?

Apparently not. A Google translation of the item, “Simple small dinosaur” reads as follows:

Model Description

Simple model of small dinosaur

The entry not only does not recognize the attribution, but the item’s name has been changed from “Milton” to “Simple small dinosaur”.

This transgression may not be directly caused by dayin.la, as it may have been one of their users who have uploaded the model; the service may not be aware of the model’s heritage. However, the site does offer a way to make a correction: a button brings up this box (translation again courtesy of Google):

From there it would be possible to provide the appropriate change information to the 3D model, that presumably dayin.la would implement.

What are Rodda’s plans? He explained what he will do next:

I’m a little peeved about the situation, but I understand it. You can’t expect every kid in China with an internet connection to know what a Creative-Commons Share Alike license is. Heck, you can’t get people for whom English is a first language to follow that license sometimes.

My thinking is that since I can’t beat ‘em, imma join ‘em. I’m going to create an account on day in and start uploading all the models from The Forge. It’ll be a good way to learn some new vocabulary and engage with a new set of 3D printer owners who aren’t comfortable on Western model sites. I have no idea how I’m going to translate all those model descriptions though.

Is there other content that may require similar adjustments or perhaps even removal if the content is proprietary? It appears so. By digging deeper, we found several 3D models that, at first glance, could be licensed items, including a small number of Iron Man, RoboCop, Simpsons pieces and a collection of League of Legends items. It’s possible there are items appearing in the same way as Zheng3’s, so we advise designers to take a look through the site and report any corrections.

]]>3D Scans of Lost Michelangelo Statues to Help in Their PreservationusageENGINEERING.comFri, 31 Jul 2015 16:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/30/3d-scans-of-lost-michelangelo-statues-to-help-in-their-preservation509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55ba364be4b0a906a792867aFaculty from the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and the Warwick Medical
School at the University of Warwick in the UK are working in collaboration
with art historians from the University of Cambridge.

Faculty from the Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG) and the Warwick Medical School at the University of Warwick in the UK are working in collaboration with art historians from the University of Cambridge.

Their goal: to determine the design and construction process of two curious Renaissance bronzes.

The team has been utilizing neutron imaging, x-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis, 360-degree laser scanning, 3D printing and real-time x-ray videography to assess why the thick-walled casts are losing the intricate detailing and sophistication of the original models.

The two bronzes, held at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, first came to the world’s attention in February of 2015, when a group of experts asserted they were actually cast models by Michelangelo.

The museum brought in sculptor and archaeometallurgy expert Andrew Lacey to help construct one full-size and two reduced-scale replicas of the bronzes. To do this, Lacey used the traditional method of spruing for one of the scale models while using a more unorthodox method for the second, which he believes was used for their creation.

Lacey will be assisted by the WMG researchers, who will be providing high-resolution 3D scans of the bronzes and by Warwick Medical School professor Peter Abrahams, who will comment on their anatomy.

A Toronto-based startup hopes to capture some of the 3D printed jewelry market.

“One & Only Jewelry” hasn’t quite launched yet, but they’re seeking to partner with designers of 3D printed jewelry. The idea is quite similar to many other 3D model repositories, where designers can post their works for sale, and receive a commission when a print is requested.

One & Only will be using Sculpteo to perform their printing, and we understand that enables them to print in a variety of materials suitable for the jewelry market, including metals.

It appears they may be developing an app as part of their sales strategy, given this screenshot.

With the explosion of 3D model repositories recently, one wonders how this venture could survive against the competition. One way this might work is that they offer printing commissions larger than their competition. According to a statement by One & Only Jewelry in a Reddit thread:

We sign agreements not to disclose those figures publicly, but what I can tell you is that it’s a significant portion - otherwise nobody would be interested. We’re trying to make sure the designers are happy and it’s a win-win. Otherwise it would be hard to compete for good designs.

So we don’t know what their percentage take is, but this might be a good deal for designers who are always seeking more ways to sell their products. Designers might want to hit the link below.

The popular service provides an ability for those with 3D printers to connect with clients wishing to print things. It’s been able to capitalize on the increasing number of hobby 3D printers that can sometimes be idle, making them available at low costs to those without 3D printers.

3D Hubs has been growing steadily since their inception a few short years ago. Now by hitting the 20,000 3D printer mark, they seem to have the volume to take further steps. Their growth has been recognized by investors as well: they’ve scored many millions in venture capital investment, raising their company value and providing more than sufficient working capital.

That working capital has been used to grow their product, network and marketing efforts. We’ve seen them connect with a variety of different 3D services to offer print services where before there were none. We’ve seen them improve their software API, permitting even more ways to connect with their growing network.

Their growth itself is growing. According to their statistics, they’ve more 3D printers join the network in the past six months than in the entire two years previous. This indicates they’re succeeding.

The number 20,000 is significant, as it likely represents a good chunk of the active personal 3D printers in the world today. We previously speculated on the number being something around 250,000, so this implies 3D Hubs might be closing in on 10% of the available market.

Their growth at some point will be constrained by the number of 3D printers and operators willing to participate in the network. But for now, the sales of 3D printers continues to increase, and 3D Hubs will be able to ride that wave for some time yet.

Choc Edge has been working on the technology of chocolate 3D printing for several years now; we first saw them in 2013, when their original machine explored the basics of chocolate printing technology. They were even able to print our logo in tasty chocolate:

Now they’ve announced a new version, the Choc Creator 2.0 Plus, an improved version of the increasingly usable chocolate printer. Enhancements have been made in several areas:

The syringe assembly has been made more reliable by providing even heating over the syringe. Previously, some blockage could occur in some circumstances. The new nozzle is easily removable for cleaning after a print session.

The build area is somewhat larger, now 180 x 180mm. We say “area” instead of volume, because chocolate printing has a significant barrier yet to overcome: Z-heights are limited by the structural strength of chocolate, which isn’t much. Items taller than around 20mm are subject to slumping. The CC2.0 Plus has a limit of 50mm in the Z-height, but we suspect few users would ever get that high unless printing a very wide object, which would permit the chocolate to cool as printing proceeds.

The CC2.0 Plus’s syringe contains 30ml of chocolate volume, sufficient for up to fifteen hours of printing. However, we expect most prints will be much faster as they will tend to be 2D or slightly more than 2D in height.

Print accuracy has been increased, with layers as small as 0.4mm of chocolate now possible.

The CC2.0 Plus now includes a beautiful color LCD touch screen, joining the many other 3D printers that employ this now de-facto standard feature.

Finally, the machine’s case has a stylistic improvement: it now sports a sleek, sophisticated look that would fit into any modern kitchen.

The new machine is currently being marketed to early bird buyers for as low as £1,665 (USD$2,600) but the price will rise to the proper retail price of £2,380 (USD$3,700) when released to the public in volume quantities. This price is somewhat higher than many plastic 3D printers, but there are few commercial chocolate 3D printers to choose from, and perhaps none with as much engineering experience and development as the Choc Creator 2.0 Plus.

]]>Are You Overflowing With 3D Models?ideassoftwareGeneral FabbWed, 29 Jul 2015 18:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/26/are-you-overflowing-with-3d-models509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b549d8e4b0bb795dd95241To use a 3D printer, you must have 3D models. But wait, exactly how many do
you have? Probably far too many to keep track of.

To use a 3D printer, you must have 3D models. But wait, exactly how many do you have? Probably far too many to keep track of.

This is a classic data management problem: a digital artifact is created and then stored. It won’t be thrown out, as it has value and might be used in the future. But then, over time, many are collected and the result is a pile of files that is hard to manage.

This is the problem of anyone owning a 3D printer, or at least those who use it regularly. Using the 3D printer means you must have 3D models, and if you’re not printing the same item over and over, you’ll soon have mountains of many different 3D models on your digital storage.

Some might attempt to organize them by placing them in project “folders”, while others might place them in a single, massively overloaded folder and hope they can identify them by filename alone.

One of our devices seems to have 2,495 STL models, hundreds of 3D CAD models, and even dozens of executable 3D print files, such as .GCODE, .X3G and even .BFB.

It’s a total mess, no doubt the same situation many Fabbaloo readers find themselves in.

It can be bad if you simply download 3D models for printing from other sources, but it’s more complex if you develop your own 3D models using CAD software, as each model might have multiple versions. Of course, you’ll probably store each version. Perhaps an even more pathological situation is creating 3D models from 3D scans, which must go through multiple steps to arrive at a properly printable 3D model. Again, people may store all the intermediate versions as well as the final version.

So what to do?

We have three suggestions.

First, be ruthless:

You don’t need to store any executable 3D printer code, since it can be generated again. Storing old versions is also asking for trouble, since you might not know what parameters were specified for each saved print job

Delete downloadable 3D models. If you, say, found a 3D model on Thingiverse, you can probably find it again on Thingiverse later. Use the online repositories as your storage mechanism

Determine which 3D model is the “right” or “final” 3D model and throw away intermediate copies

Second, use a naming convention:

Embed the size of a 3D model in the filename if you have different sized versions

If a 3D model has support structures attached, then indicate so in the filename

Always use the same root name for a 3D model; this enables an easy way to find all versions of a 3D model

An alternative approach is to put all related versions in a single folder

Third, use a change control system:

Software developers use change control systems to manage code, but 3D models are also digital content and can be managed in the same way. This means you can know which is the current and correct version, as well as saving historical versions for emergencies, too

A very popular change control system is git, which can be installed locally or used online from services like GitHub, which also happens to offer 3D file difference analysis so you can see what’s different between versions

Other popular change control systems include Mercurial and Subversion, but there are many more to choose from

And if we added a fourth suggestion, it would be to clean up your 3D model library sooner rather than later. Remember the old story: When is the best time to plant a tree? Answer: Twenty years ago. Question: When is the second time to plant a tree? Answer: RIGHT NOW.

]]>A Curious Thing About 3.00 vs 1.75mm 3D Printer FilamentideasGeneral FabbWed, 29 Jul 2015 17:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/26/a-curious-thing-about-300-vs-175mm-3d-printer-filament509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b54838e4b0840c30e3df12In the beginning it was 3.0mm filament for 3D printers, but then things
switched to 1.75mm filament. Was this a good idea?

In the beginning it was 3.0mm filament for 3D printers, but then things switched to 1.75mm filament. Was this a good idea?

Today if you go to any 3D printer filament store, you’ll usually find two options for filament size: 3.00 or 1.75mm diameter. There’s a bit of history here to review.

When 3D printers first emerged, a problem was sourcing plastic filament for use in them. At the time, plastic welding filament was the commonly available industrial product most matching the technical requirements of 3D printing. Thus it was used frequently because it was available. And it most often came in 3.00mm diameter size. Many 3D printers of several years ago used this size of plastic filament only.

But then a few short years ago we started seeing the emergence of 1.75mm filament. This provided a few advantages over 3.00mm filament.

The larger-sized filament is obviously stronger. This meant that it was subject to cracking if put under stress, such as following a curved path through a 3D printer to a hot end. There are few things worse in the world than having to pick 38 small curved pieces of broken 3.00mm filament out of a plastic tube.

This problem was especially prevalent when getting to the end of a spool, when the inherent curve of the filament was strongest. Sometimes this would cause extra friction along the filament path, leading to printing issues.

Meanwhile, 1.75mm filament is much more flexible and thus amenable to spooling and twisting through curved tubes towards an extruder and hot end.

Some would say the 1.75mm filament was better for producing detailed parts with smaller nozzle sizes, but we’re not so sure about that.

You’d think that 1.75mm would thus be the choice of the industry. Mostly it is, as almost every new 3D printer offers 1.75mm capability.

But here’s the most interesting coincidence. If you were to peruse the Internets to find the most highly touted personal 3D printers of the current day, you’d find something interesting.

From our observations, the brand name, non-RepRap 3D printers most raved about include: the Ultimaker 2, the LulzBot TAZ 5 and the Zortrax M200. We keep hearing people saying things like, “we sell these because they work”, “they never break”, “keeps on printing endlessly without error”, etc.

Guess what? All of these popular 3D printers DO NOT use 1.75mm filament. They use 3.00mm (or actually 2.85mm) filament. They use the larger size!

Is 1.75mm filament that much better? Perhaps not so.

]]>Emendo 3D Repair Software Now Available For Windows and Adds an SDKsoftwareGeneral FabbWed, 29 Jul 2015 16:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/26/emendo-3d-repair-software-now-available-for-windows-and-adds-an-sdk509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b5491be4b0edbb36a9538fAvante Technology’s Emendo 3D model repair software has had a couple of
major changes recently.

Avante Technology’s Emendo 3D model repair software has had a couple of major changes recently.

The software, originally available only for OS/X, is now available for Windows users, too. It provides automated STL repair using a variety of algorithms hidden from the user - and thus speeding workflow. How hidden? They use a “simple, one-button interface”.

Emendo can completely rebuild a mesh using one of its three modes of repair. Each mode uses “three different repair modes using different types and combinations of repair algorithms for a broader repair capability than what can be obtained from conventional repair software.”

Emendo enables validation of your 3D model before sending it to a 3D printer. Users will be able to see highlighted areas of concern using the built-in 3D viewer.

One feature we particularly like is the ability to match the resolution of the fixed 3D model to the target 3D printer. Emendo can ensure the features in the 3D model are not smaller than the finest resolution of your 3D printer, making the model more printable and decreasing the size of the 3D model, sometimes significantly.

At top we can see Emendo in action (windows version). First the software detects invalid elements in the mesh, in this case 384 intersecting triangles.

Then you need only punch the “REPAIR” button and it goes to work fixing the model with its algorithms.

Finally, the model is re-analyzed and in this case there are no outstanding issues. The model is ready for printing.

If you’d like to obtain Emendo, it’s available for USD$80 (for individuals) at the link below.

While 3D printing at human-sized scales remains a busy marketplace, research into 3D printing at microscopic scales also continues.

In a paper published in the journal Nature, researchers have developed a way to use DNA itself as a kind of microscopic 3D printer.

Here we can see the workflow they’ve prepared, and as you can see it is similar to that used by today’s normal-scale 3D printing. It begins with CAD design of a shape. From there the system analyzes the shape and develops DNA sequences that, when exposed to the proper chemicals, will produce the desired shape.

It sounds quite incredible, yet here we see an image of the process at work. Microscopic objects are indeed produced.

Incredibly, the workflow to achieve this is mostly automated. It’s almost like having a microscopic 3D printer.

At this point this technology is only an academic proof-of-concept, but there seems to be much potential here. Were this able to scale to larger sized (but still microscopic) objects, we could see complex objects being produced. If an ability for assembly were added, we could see multiple parts joined together to form very small machines, machines that could literally be designed in CAD and “printed” by DNA.

We expect this to eventually morph into a new 3D printing company in the future. MicroPrinting? DNAPrinters Inc.?

The number of very large plastic-extrusion technology 3D printers is increasing. Today we’re looking at the Cosine AdditiveMachine1, which definitely qualifies for that list.

Cosine Additive is a large-format 3D printer with a difference. Like other large-format options, it has a massive build volume of 1100 x 850 x 900mm and can print layers as small as 0.100mm. It’s heated bed is standard for machines of this size, but it does have a completely enclosed build chamber to ensure quality prints. Here we see a 52-hour polycarbonate print.

The difference is in the hot end, which can reach temperatures of up to 450C. This means this machine can print materials beyond the usual ABS and PLA. In fact, most lower-cost large format 3D printers typically print only PLA to minimize warping. However, the AdditiveMachine1’s heated bed and enclosed chamber can overcome that limitation. Thus, they’ve enabled the machine to also 3D print these materials:

Polycarbonate

Nylon

PBT

HIPS

PETG

Acetal

PVA

Even better, the machine is also capable of handling filaments with these additives mixed into filaments:

Carbon fiber, chopped

Carbon fiber, continuous

Carbon black, ESD

Glass fiber

Stainless steel powder

Bronze powder

Mica

Glass spheres

And it’s quite likely the machine could handle many more similar additives, as the company probably haven’t been able to test everything. They say it’s an “open materials platform”, meaning you can try any reasonable material without the need for proprietary cartridges.

The Cosine Additive machine also is quite speedy. By equipping it with the 1.5mm nozzle, it can print as much as 3.5 kg (8 lbs) of material per day. They’ve also been experimenting with incredibly huge 50 pound (25 kg) filament spools, which would enable unattended 3D printing for literally days.

This creates a powerful machine that can be used for many industrial purposes. Here we see an example print where they’ve created a mold for a small rocket fairing using a new carbon fiber-polycarbonate filament. The resulting 12-hour print is a very strong mold that can be used for production purposes.

The company does not publish list prices for these machines, as they appear to custom build them to order. However, based on the machine’s functionality, we suspect the pricing would be several tens of thousands of USD$.

The price is likely sufficiently low to attract manufacturers who might otherwise be unable to afford to use 3D printing at this scale.

It may be that Cosine Additive’s machine could open up a whole new world of products for small-sized manufacturers.

3D software MachineWorks announced an amazing new feature in their upcoming Polygonica release: the ability to automatically recognize 3D CAD features from a 3D mesh.

Here’s how it works, for those unfamiliar with CAD and Meshes. A mesh is a digital description of a 3D shape in the form of a network of polygons (typically triangles or “quads”). Think of it like a fisherman’s net that’s bolted to the exterior skin of an object.

A CAD model is also a digital representation of an object, but it is made not from polygons covering the skin, but instead a series of intersecting primitive objects, such as cylinders, flat surfaces, cones, curves, etc.

The other very major difference is that CAD tools permit you to individually (and numerically) change the dimensions of these primitive objects. Example: change the diameter of a hole by entering a different number. This type of change CANNOT be easily done if the object is a mesh, as you’d have to individually and precisely move dozens, hundreds or even thousands of polygons.

The problem is that often you’ll have only the mesh and not the CAD version of a 3D model, making it incredibly difficult to make modifications.

That could change with the new Polygonica software, which automatically analyzes a mesh to identify CAD-style components. At top we see a simple object with highlighting indicating the detecting of several primitive CAD objects.

Here we see a much more complex 3D model that has been decomposed into the following components:

Solid has 271582 triangles.

Found 6368 features in 80.63 seconds.

3469 planes

153 spheres

1612 cylinders

931 cones

203 tori

While this feature may not be sufficient to handle the usually incomplete and messy 3D meshes obtained by 3D scanners, it likely can be quite useful on “complete” 3D meshes.

These investors obviously believe strongly in Voxel8’s capabilities, both technical and managerial. But for readers who are not familiar with Voxel8, here’s what they are about:

Their technology involves a conventional plastic extrusion 3D printer, but with a special secondary print head that extrudes a proprietary electrically conductive substance developed by Voxel8. It’s essentially a dual-extruder 3D printer.

But the second extruder prints circuits.

The implications are huge. Imagine 3D printing an object, but one that already has electrical traces running through it - in three dimensions! You could, for example, print a quadcopter, and need only drop in a motor and batteries. The rest of the electrical infrastructure is already embedded in the print. This could vastly simplify the assembly process for many types of electronic objects.

Readers may be thinking: “Why not just print electrically conductive filament on any dual-extruder 3D printer? Wouldn’t this be exactly the same thing?”

The answer is probably not, because the proprietary electrically conductive substance produced by Voxel8, which they call “Silver Ink”, is significantly more conductive than other options. Consider this table provided by Voxel8:

Resistivity5.0 × 10-7 Ω-m2.8 × 10-3 Ω-m1.0 × 10-2 Ω-m

MaterialVoxel8’s Silver InkConductive PasteConductive Filament

That’s 5,000 times more conductive! Items printed with Voxel8’s technology require far thinner traces to achieve the same electrical function, ideal for applications such as quadcopters or anything with weight constraints. This is perhaps why they have investors such as In-Q-Tel and Mitre.

There’s another reason Voxel8 has an advantage: software. Currently, generally available 3D modeling software really doesn’t offer any easy way to embed circuit paths within an object during design. Voxel8’s software is intended to do this in conjunction with their printer.

What will Voxel8 do with this cash hoard? It’s not clear from their press release, but we suspect it will be used to increase their research activities to refine the product, as well as develop their sales and marketing reach. Currently, they are a small startup and this funding gives them the ability to implement almost anything they require.

Taiwan-based SKY-TECH offers a number of 3D products, but now they’re offering a very low-cost, advanced technology 3D printing pen.

The SKYPEN’s operates in a manner similar to the several other 3D printing pens: a filament is drawn in from one end of the pen, and extruded out the other. By carefully moving the pen in 3D (or 2D) paths, you’ll be able to quickly create rough but unique shapes in plastic. It’s essentially a handheld 3D printer hot end.

There’s a couple of differences with this 3D pen, however.

The major feature is the ability to use two filaments simultaneously. There are two ports and two extrusion paths within the pen, as you can see here. Two control buttons are presented, which enable forwards/backwards movement and the ability to switch filaments on the fly.

This means you can actually switch colors during a print. Their campaign video shows the extruded plastic switch from white to red in seconds.

The color changing ability makes it much easier to draw up colorful objects such as this lampshade in black and white.

The SKYPEN also offers interchangeable tips. Here we see a chisel attachment deftly slicing off support material from a complex 3D print.

There’s another very useful feature on this pen: a heat shield applied to the hot end. Most other 3D pens are a bit dangerous as the hot end is directly exposed, allowing careless fingers and arms to get cooked if touched. The SKYPEN’s “protection head” reduces the possibility of this happening to you.

And yes, there’s another feature we must mention: the price. The SKYPEN, at least for early bird backers on their Kickstarter campaign, is available for only USD$19. Nineteen dollars! Of course, there are a limited quantity at that price, and when they run out you’ll have to pay a bit more, ranging from USD$20 to USD$39. It’s not clear what the retail price of the SKYPEN will be, but it is surely less than most other 3D printing pens.

]]>Design of the Week: Power LoaderdesignGeneral FabbMon, 27 Jul 2015 16:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/26/design-of-the-week-power-loader509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b54406e4b001a5c20777b7This week’s selection is the incredibly detailed Power Loader by Aaron
Hartman.

This week’s selection is the incredibly detailed Power Loader by Aaron Hartman.

Power Loader is based on the exosuit worn by actor Signourey Weaver in the second Alien movie, “Aliens”. In the film, the suit was intended to aid workers moving heavy loads, but of course, it ended up battling the Alien, too.

Designer Aaron Hartman explains his interest in the model:

It’s the Class II Power Loader from the movie Aliens. I spent months modeling and prototyping and the results are fantastic. The “Exo-suit” is completely articulated and requires only 3D printed parts, paperclips and some flexible filament for the hydraulic lines.

This is a complex 3D model: there are actually fifty separate pieces to this, so it will take time to print all of them, let alone assemble them into the final structure.

It’s complex enough that Hartman has included several pages of assembly instructions to ensure you put things together in the right sequence.

You’ll need some paperclips and snips to cut them into small connectors, and some glue appropriate for the material you’ve printed the parts with.

The entire 3D model is available for download at Pinshape, but it is a premium item, obviously and is priced at USD$23.40. That’s a pretty high price compared to other premium 3D model downloads we’ve seen, but again, this is made from fifty parts!

If you’re expecting a visit from Aliens anytime soon, you might want to get working on your Power Loader print.

Industrial 3D printer manufacturer EOS has partnered with GF Machining Solutions, and we think the results could be quite interesting.

EOS is a long-time manufacturer of industrial 3D printers, both high-resolution powder-based nylon machines as well as metal powder 3D printers using their Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS™) technology. Meanwhile, GF Machining Solutions is a long-time provider of mold-making solutions to industry using conventional milling technologies.

The two parties have agreed to work together on molds and dies, each leveraging the other’s technologies.

This means they will be able to create industrial molds not previously possible. For example, they can together do this:

The additive manufacturing technology offers for such customers the possibility to generate metal inserts featuring cooling close to the surface, thus allowing for a shorter mold cooling sequence and therefore a much faster plastic injection cycle.

This is a very important change for manufacturers. Typically the cost of an injection molded item is largely based on amortizing the usually high cost of producing the original mold over the number of copies made with it. This is limited by time. For example, a $50,000 mold might be able to produce, say, 10,000 units within a given time period. What if an advanced mold could make that 15,000, or 20,000 units within the same period? The costs of production go down.

Lower costs of production could mean any or all of the following:

More sales of molded products

Lower costs to consumers of molded products

More profit to the manufacturer of molded products

New customers and uses for lower cost molded products

All of which is good.

This form of collaboration is, we believe, the future of industrial 3D printing: making more advanced products in a more efficient manner.

]]>A Large 3D Model Repository You Probably Haven’t TriedmodelsGeneral FabbSat, 25 Jul 2015 16:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/18/a-large-3d-model-repository-you-probably-havent-tried509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55aad58ee4b01127a12a47a4We found a large repository of free 3D models, but there’s one catch: its
pages appear in Chinese. But that’s not a problem.

We found a large repository of free 3D models, but there’s one catch: its pages appear in Chinese. But that’s not a problem.

The site is dayin.la, and it appears to be more or less a Thingiverse clone. It may even have Thingiverse content in it, but during our inspection we noted models that didn’t seem to be in Thingiverse.

In fact, there seemed to be quite a few very interesting models we hadn’t seen elsewhere. All of them are available for download at no charge. We’re not certain how many 3D models are in this repository, but some of the categories have hundreds of pages of results, so it’s a big number.

The site must have many users as well, as many of the items have download counts in the thousands. It may be that this site is busier than Thingiverse!

As we said, the site is in Chinese, which is fine if you read the language. But if you don’t, Google is your friend. By using the Chrome browser, you can set it to automatically translate the pages to English as it loads.

You’ll need to enter a code to prove you’re not a robot on each download, but otherwise the process of using dayin.la is pretty seamless.

]]>Hands On With Verbatim’s 3D Printer FilamentsmaterialsGeneral FabbFri, 24 Jul 2015 18:00:00 +0000http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2015/7/23/hands-on-with-verbatims-3d-printer-filaments509c281de4b0cd18c7335aab:52f58444e4b0cdc9d87888d0:55b109b8e4b071480fb87e44We tested samples of several filaments from Verbatim, who have recently
entered the market for 3D printer supplies, and were very impressed with
the results.

We tested samples of several filaments from Verbatim, who have recently entered the market for 3D printer supplies, and were very impressed with the results.

As we reported previously, Verbatim enters the market with a good selection of high-quality 3D printer filaments, all based on patented plastic formulas from their parent company, Mitsubishi. We expected good results and indeed that was the case.

Here we see the popular Control-V test object, successfully 3D printed in PLA. It came out near perfectly, with no errors visible.

Similarly the #3DBenchy test also performed very well, although there were very slight issues on the overhangs, but that’s where most plastic extrusion 3D printers fail regardless of the filament.

The important thing is that we experienced no jams, pops or inconsistencies in the filament during testing. The Verbatim PLA filament is clearly high-quality and we would not hesitate to use it in the future, particularly if you require large quantities of consistently colored filament.

We also were able to test a small amount of Verbatim’s unusual “Primalloy” material. This is a flexible substance that can be printed on almost any personal 3D printer, so long as you slow the print speed. Our testing at 25mm/second yielded no problems. No jams occurred at all, something that happens frequently with other flexible filaments. Here we see a plug printed in Primalloy, which should work perfectly once we print the rest of the object in standard rigid material.

Primalloy has some interesting operational characteristics. While it is sold by spool, our sample was a small unspooled coil. It turned out to be inappropriate to hang the coil on our filament rack, as the extreme flexiness of Primalloy quickly tangled up the coil: there is no rigidity to cause the coil to rotate around an axis! We found the best way to print a coil was to simply drop it in a pile on the table, and the slippery, spaghetti-like substance sorted itself out easily.

Another issue with hanging a coil is that the loose end can (and WILL) flop over into the active printer build volume, which is of course not a good idea at all.

For adhesion, we found Primalloy to stick perfectly well to our flexible PRINTinZ plate. However, since the print is flexible, the usual method of removal from the plate (flexing it), was entirely ineffective. Instead, you must trowel the Primalloy print off the plate, and you won’t hear any satisfying “cracking” sounds - it just silently peels away like a snail on the counter.

Another interesting fact about Primalloy is that it is almost odorless during printing, unlike pungent ABS or sugary PLA.

The material tends to stretch more than typical rigid plastics, as you might expect. Depending on the geometry of your 3D model, you might encounter additional stringies between extruder movement points, as seen here in this squishy Beluga whale 3D print by artist Kal Barteski.

Aside from the stringies, Primalloy is a wonderful material to print with. If you have a need for printing flexible items, you definitely should look into Verbatim’s Primalloy, which currently costs USD$88 per 500g and is only available in white color. Yes, it’s expensive, but is definitely worth the cost.